September 2006

Delta Airlines recently announced plans to offer digital video services on demand in the seatbacks of its Boeing 757’s. The service will be offered for both first-class and coach passengers will allow travelers not only to watch their preferred television shows and movies (so you don’t have to watch Big Momma’s House on the ride, again), but also to listen to music and play video games.

We here in America are more tip happy than any other country. This is great news thrifty travelers, particularly those who are currently basing their tipping estimates on American customs.

Familiarizing oneself with the local tipping cusoms while on the road can not only save money, but also save face. After all, how will it look at a stingy negotiation in Australia, where tipping is non-existent, when you plunk down an extra twenty or thirty bucks at the end of the meal.

The Economist has a hilarious take on what a pre-flight safety announcement might sound like aboard the fictional Veritas Airways.

Warning: I wouldn’t recommend reading this if flying already makes you nervous. It’s bound to just fuel your fears.

Apple’s iTunes music store has officially launched its new database of movies available for digital download. The site is now offering a number of games for iPod as well including the perennial favorite Tetris.

Both of these new features should come in handy on long flights.

Today is the fifth anniversary of the most horrific day in the one hundred and three year history of aviation. September 11, 2001 drove many of us to the brink of our sanity and the major airlines to the brink of bankruptcy. However, it is important to note that from the aftermath of 9/11 the airline industry has embarked on a journey of self-improvement. While flying may not be as fun or feel as safe as it used to, it has become much more efficient, speedy, cost-effective, and, in reality, safer.

For example, turnaround times are down significantly. Check-in times at most major airport are also down thanks to the post-September 11 additions of automated kiosks, allowing for check-in times as low as one minute. Online booking for flights and hotels increased. The few days with particularly heightened security have forced airlines and airports to become efficient in ways they hadn’t even imagined. Despite complaints of long lines through ticketing and security, average post- 9/11 times for both are less than half an hour.

September 11th marked the end of a lazy, inefficient and unprotected aviation industry. September 12 marked the beginning of a high-speed, efficient and protected aviation industry, as well as a more efficient, alert, and hardworking country.

A couple of interesting posts this morning.

Fly Away Cafe explains how to avoid drinking the water in foreign countries and reminds readers to be make sure their water bottles are sealed, since “a burgeoning cottage industry is developing refilling water bottles with tap water.”

Meanwhile, Gadling shares a horror story about lost luggage on Czech Airlines and mentions that out of the 3.7 million bags that airlines lose every year, nearly half a million of them are never recovered.

I’ve never been one to check luggage. As Steve and Kim over at the Blog Business Summit (where I work) can attest, I’m the queen of packing light for business trips. But the liquids and gels ban has changed the rules.

My fiancé made an excellent recommendation about how to avoid the liquids and gels problem and it bears repeating. My Wet Stuff is a really cool service, and they’re giving away the first $1 million worth of products free. Despite this, I still had to check a bag on a recent trip because the service does not stock my preferred brands of makeup and skin care products. But for folks who aren’t as absurdly picky, that could come in really handy.

Australia’s Qantas Airlines will test out in-flight telephony on one of its 767’s on domestic routes in 2007.

According to the The Sydney Morning Herald:

Mobile phones will connect to a mini-base station on board the aircraft known as a picocell. This will pass calls through a satellite connection to ground-based mobile networks via a gateway in Norway. The picocell controls the power output of the mobile phones and throws a low radio frequency blanket over the cabin to prevent handhelds from interfering with the plane’s navigation instruments as they try to connect to base stations on the ground.

Users will be billed for the service through their own phone companies. The article doesn’t include any information about charges for the telephony service.

Note: Notice how I didn’t spell Qantas with a “u” this time…

If given the choice, I know I would select slithery, scaly reptiles (and Samuel L. Jackson) over listening to the teenager in the adjacent seat babble into a cell phone any day.

But The Economist reports that 80% of airline travelers said that they would approve of the use of cell phones in transit.

Don’t despair, there’s hope for those of you who are getting a migraine at the idea of being trapped at 30,000 feet in a cramped metal tube full of yakking fellow passengers. Apparently, more people are interested in in-flight text messaging, while very few people are enthusiastic about the idea of making actual voice calls.

My ideal scenario would be that cell phones would be allowed for text messaging and internet connectivity throughout the flight, while voice conversation would be limited to designated 20 minute intervals every couple of hours.

According to The Economist, the current ban on cell phones in transit has more to do with worries about interfering with cell phone networks on the ground than with avionics. But that’s in direct conflict with a recent study from Carnegie Mellon. According to Scientific American:

Researchers at Carnegie Mellon University concluded that cell phones and other PEDs could endanger the normal operation of critical navigation systems on aircraft. After monitoring radio emissions from portable electronics during airline flights (with an antenna and spectrum analyzer that fit into a carry-on bag), they estimate that an average of one to four cellular calls are made from the cabin during each trip–despite the ban. The researchers also determined that some of the emissions from mobile phones occurred in frequencies employed by Global Positioning System (GPS) receivers, which are increasingly vital for safe landings. In addition, the study warned that avionics that operate at non-cell phone frequencies could encounter interference when nearby wireless signals interact and generate spurious spikes in other frequency ranges.

I say, before we get ahead of ourselves with the enabling of in-flight cell phone abuse, let’s investigate this possibility further. The physical and mental safety of passengers depends on it.

Via Glenn Fleishman.

As we all know well, airlines only make money when their planes are in the air. The faster the turnaround time, the more cost-effective the airline. Airlines spend millions of dollars every year figuring out the optimal pattern for loading passengers onto aircraft.

United is trying something a little different in Denver. They’re experimenting with simultaneous boarding and deplaning process that would make use of the airplane’s front and rear doors.

So far, the dual-end jetway has reduced turnaround times by half. They estimate that this will give them the equivalent of having at least 10 more planes in the air, and they have plans to expand the program to other terminals and other airports in the near future.

Via the TravelPost Insider.

I recently ran an update on the Sardine Index we published a while back, and I have good news: American businesses still have the ingenuity, intelligence, and innovation to remain profitable and compete in the global community. By this I mean that one of the ways the major airlines have managed to stop their losses is by cramming as many people into an airplane as possible.

Nearly every airline has posted a significant increase in their load factors from last year, meaning that airplanes have far fewer free seats than they used to. This should come as no surprise to anyone who has flown recently, although the big surprise is just how much airlines with previous load factors in the sixties and seventies are now in the eighties. Interestingly enough, the only airline listed with a load factor below eighty, AirTrans Airways, is launching a major promotion with drastically reduced prices.

The moral of this story is, expect to have people on both sides of your armrest when you fly. This makes the importance of finding a good seat that much higher. Having recently spent one flight in an exit row (ahhh…leg room….) and another next to the restroom during a two-hour delay on the tarmac in Alabama (WHY LORD, WHY!!!???), I strongly recommend reserving your seat way in advance or–if you’re flying Southwest–checking in the night before your flight to get in boarding group A.

AirTran Airways has announced temporary fares lasting from September 19, 2006, to February 1, 2007, that are well below the norm.  The fares, which are largely for the Eastern and Southern parts of the country, come as low as $39.  A flight across the country can be found for as low as $129, which is about half of what I paid for many similar flights earlier this year.

Yes, it got considerably harder when they started making you check all your makeup and skincare products. But dressing comfortably yet fashionably isn’t difficult when you’ve got $250 extra hanging around to buy some of Yansi Fugel’s beautiful jersey and microfiber travel clothes.

Personally, I’m a big fan of the side shirred dress (left).

Via The TravelPost Insider.

PS: I hope you all know that I’ve got my tongue firmly in my cheek when I protest about the ban on makeup and skincare products. Preventing terrorism is much more important than me looking pretty. I get it. Really.

Even in this world of increasing virtual communication, I’m still a big believer in face-to-face communication. Particularly when you’re sealing a deal with people. Often, that means getting on a plane and traveling halfway across the world.

When you’re traveling overseas, even when everyone you’re working with speaks perfect English, it’s prudent to learn at least some phrases in your new target language. It conveys respect and will smooth your path considerably if you have to interact with people whose English is not as good as that of your immediate associates.

One easy way to study a language in small, manageable doses is by downloading podcasts that involve the language. I’ve recently begun refreshing my Japanese with the Japanese Pod 101 course (iTunes).

Some other useful foreign language podcasts are (all iTunes):

• The French PodClass
• InstaSpanish
• Chinese Pod

There are a number of other language podcasts on there, so if you don’t immediately find the language you’re looking for, just keep poking around in the language courses section for more offerings.

Rising fuel costs, stiff competition and high airport landing fees have driven CanJet to halt its commercial flight service on 9/10/06.

The move has “stunned” some, but analysts say it’s not all that surprising. “I have a feeling it’s just because Atlantic Canada just isn’t large enough of a region with a high enough propensity to travel, and certainly not a high enough yield coming out of those travelers to support three carriers (including Air Canada and WestJet),” said Calgary-based airline analyst Rick Erickson.

In the face of new restrictions, increasing hassles, and potential terrorist threats, some people are now predicting a fundamental and permanent decrease in the number of business travelers.

Some also argue that the flattening of our world by digital media and fiber-optic cable makes it more likely that travel for business will grow increasingly irrelevant in the coming years.

What do you road warriors think? Is getting on a plane and talking to a client or coworker face to face worth the greater effort? Are there better alternatives?

The AirBus A380 took off yesterday with a full load of 474 passengers for the first time. The flight comes in the wake of management changes, costly delays, and a temporary hiring freeze.

The new superjumbo is designed to make traveling more efficient and decrease airport congestion. However, the tremendous wind currents given off by A380, called its wake, have caused the International Civil Aviation Organization to require a very large space allotted between itself and another planes, called a minimum exclusion zone. If the superjumbo flies to close to another plane, its turbulence may disrupt that plane. The ICIA has set larger minimum exclusion zone for the AirBus than Boeing’s 747 jumbos, and as a result the efficiency of the plane, one of its major selling points, may be jeopardized.

I know I’ve become something of a Southwest cheerleader of late. But I’m really just thrilled with the service they provide. Their decision to hedge against the price of fuel could go down in history as one of the best business decisions of all time. But to remain profitable and while offering bargain tickets, Southwest is now looking to other areas of its business in an effort to trim the fat.

Recently, they’ve been reexamining the contracts of their pilots who are the highest-paid in the industry, and whose contracts became amendable today. Thankfully for Southwest, the pilots’ union is gracious on the matter. Southwest pilots’ union VP Carl Kuwitzky recently said that given the state of the industry and Southwest’s already generous benefits and salaries, higher pay is “not a top bargaining objective.”

Looks like Southwest’s lucky streak may continue…

Ryanair recently announced that it plans to install a system which would allow for mobile phone use on all of its Boeing 737 Flights. The service would allow users to text, call, and even possibly access the internet through their phone.

Charges for calls would be similar to international roaming rates. Other airlines such as Air France-KLM have also expressed an interest in the service and could have it up and running as early as February 2007.

There have been a lot of complaints recently about passengers being unable to bring their toothpaste, shampoo, facial scrubs, and other essentials through security. Now there is help. One frustrated passenger recently created a company based on this problem, www.mywetstuff.com.

The service delivers toiletries and other amenities directly to your hotel room before you arrive. Regardless of whether or not this time-saver will prove cost-effective, its initial promotion of fifteen dollars of free service to the first 70,000 customers makes it worth a try.